Riverside Park Crime Declines, Police Say

FORT LAUDERDALE — More officers are patrolling and reported robberies have decreased since a meeting between police and Riverside Park residents last month, police Capt. Al Ortenzo reported.

Residents told police that muggers were terrorizing a four-block area between Broward and Davie boulevards, from Interstate 95 to the forks of the New River. The day after the meeting, Ortenzo said he set up ``a directed action plan.``

The plan is similar to one instituted in the Holiday/Victoria Park neighborhood last summer after a rash of burglaries there. Ortenzo said residents and police work together to devise strategies and set up objectives for driving negative influences out of the neighborhood.

He said the first step has been to increase uniformed police patrol of four problem areas: Kings Row Apartments, Riverside Park Recreation Center in the 1100 block of Southwest Fifth Place, the convenience store at the west end of the park, and Southwest Sixth and Seventh streets between the 1100 and 1400 blocks.

Ortenzo said loitering, purse snatchings and robberies have been reported in those areas in the past.

``I don`t know of any in the area since this started,`` Ortenzo said of the increased patrols.

In the six months between March and August, 25 strong-arm robberies were reported in the area. Twelve of those occurred in July. By August, after intensive police patrols, that number was down to two, police statistics show.

Ortenzo said, ``We`re letting the bad guys know we`re accessible to the good guys. We`re making them feel safe so the good people can go out on the streets.``

He said potential criminals are intimidated when they see people walking freely and unafraid in their neighborhoods.

Ouellette Wilkinson, president of the 40-member Riverside Park Residents Association, said she has noticed increased patrols during the day but not at night.

Until new statistics are provided from the police, Wilkinson said she could not comment on the effectiveness of the action plan.

Ortenzo said part of the plan also involves day and night decoy operations.